Pastors and the Dangers of Social Media

Here are a few dangers pastors may encounter with social media platforms:

• Unintentionally undermining the efforts of local pastors.

• Being drawn away by niche social media trends that may not align with the needs of congregants.

• Facing temptation and accusations of self-promotion and brand-building.

• Feeling tempted to leverage pastoral status for product or service promotion.

• Getting overly absorbed in cultivating a "platform" at the expense of pastoring, especially in smaller struggling churches.

• Prioritizing controversial or attention-grabbing content, potentially influencing congregants, particularly young men.

• Developing a public image that could harm the church's reputation within the community.

• Allowing online praise from those who only know the pastor through digital presence to inflate one's ego.

• Getting sidetracked from local duties due to podcast invitations, conference appearances, or online follower inquiries.

• Accruing influence beyond one's capacity, wisdom, and maturity.

• Exposing family and church to the attention of imbalanced or unstable individuals.

Etc etc etc